Maginnis gets first murder case — and conviction.

It wasn't just because of the nature of the case, where a 12-year-old girl was kidnapped, raped and murdered in the small west Montgomery County town where she lived.

It was also the first murder trial Maginnis had ever prosecuted … and they were seeking the death penalty.

"It was important, number one, because of the age of the victim and the horrific nature of the crime, and number two, it was my first capital murder … well, my first murder of any kind, much less capital murder," she said.

After barely two years as felony prosecutor, Maginnis said she was excited for the chance to help try the case, but she was worried about her abilities, as well.

"I had a lot to learn," she said. "I probably started in May collecting resources and seeking advice from different people. Plus, there were types of scientific evidence I had never had to deal with before.

"A capital murder trial itself, regardless of whether you have experience or don't have experience, has tremendous pressures because you have to make sure you do everything perfectly so it will stand up on appeal," she said. "It's a completely different case, from the way you select a jury all the way to the end of the trial."

And as the trial drew near, she began studying the evidence in the case more closely, and trying to understand what Christina LeAnn Neal went through in the last few hours of her life on June 21, 2000 after she was kidnapped as she walked home from a nearby friend's house in Dobbin.

Investigators have evidence the girl was bound and raped before she was strangled to death by Jonathan Marcus Green, 34.

"When we really started to look at all the evidence, it was extremely moving," Maginnis, a 36-year-old wife and mother of a 9-month-old son, recalls. "It finally hit home to me what had happened to this child, and the horror came to me when I had to stop and think about the possibilities we don't know about, because only one living person knows how it all really happened."

When the telephone rang in Gainesville, Georgia, around 10 p.m., Terry Maginnis said she suspected something was wrong.

When she heard the emotion in Patty's voice as she talked about the upcoming trial, Terry knew she had to come to Conroe to be here for her daughter.

"I had wanted to come see the trial, and after that phone call, I knew I was coming," Terry said. "I just wanted to be there when Patty did what she had to do."

Lead prosecutor Mike Griffin works with Maginnis daily on other felony cases, but could have chosen another prosecutor to assist with the capital murder of Jonathan Marcus Green if he had wanted to. Griffin said it was Maginnis' "work ethic and her skills" that helped him decide to give her the chance.

Griffin said the choice paid off.

"I thought her performance was exemplary," Griffin said. "She has all the hallmark traits of a fine prosecutor. Her performance before the jury could only be characterized as outstanding."

The jury deliberated less than three hours before finding Green guilty, and less than four hours before sentencing him to death.

The verdicts were a huge reward for all the hard work, Maginnis said, but she's ready to go back to the day-to-day grind, at least for a while.

"I'm ready for the next one, but I'd like to not see another one for at least six months," she said. "A case like this is extremely consuming emotionally, and it puts a big strain on a person's family and home life."

Nonetheless, Patty said it's an experience she'll never forget.

"Griffin, as the lead prosecutor in the case, didn't just have me do all the grunt work," she said. "He gave me a great deal of responsibility and did so much to teach me things particular to a capital murder trial. I owe a lot to him, because I learned so much."